Angela Costantini is sitting next to her brand-new hearth, a fire crackling within. The interior of the oven in the brand-new La Casina Pinseria has been newly refurbished with Italian brick, and the temperature must be gradually increased to 500 degrees as the brick dries. It’s a warm atmosphere, and it feels like home.

And it should: in July 2021, Angela and her husband Fabrizio Costantini moved their entire family from Rome, Italy to Washington DC to fulfill a life-long dream: to open a Roman Pinseria and live in the heart of America. Now, more than a year after beginning talks towards the lease, they are on the cusp of realizing that goal.